April 20, 2011
By Kimberly Vlach – Consumer spending on medication rose 2.3% in 2010 to $307 billion – lower than the 5.1% growth recorded in 2009, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Since 2007, dollars spent on medications has slowed – a reflection of increased purchasing of generic drugs, the loss of patent protection of major brands and less investment on new drugs, the report shows. While this may be good for the consumer’s wallet, pharmaceutical companies could end up cutting back on new drug development.
April 14, 2011
By Kimberly Vlach – Stuck between a rock and a hard place is how many health insurance agents describe their situations as health care reform is underway. At least technically health care reform is underway. Many states, including Florida, are refusing to implement the law with the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate in question. There are whispers that the Supreme Court will hear the case as early as this fall. “It’s a roll of the dice on what the ultimate outcome will be,” said Janet Trautwein, executive vice president and CEO of the National Association of Health Underwriters. Trautwein spoke Thursday to Tampa Bay health insurance agents on the impact of health care reform to their businesses and addressed some of their …
March 25, 2011
By Kimberly Vlach – Many small business owners will tell you employee health benefits are the second largest cost to their businesses – the first, payroll. So when Anton Gunn, southeastern regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, addressed Tampa Bay women small business owners Thursday in Tampa, he was met with some deep fears over soaring health insurance premiums and a challenging economy.
March 16, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, maker of Viagra, may begin selling off parts of its business, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper cites a research note by analyst Tim Anderson from equity research firm Sanford C. Bernstein. “‘Investors are desperate to see pharmaceutical companies take bold steps…to try and break the cycle of underperformance,’ Anderson said. He added that [Pfizer Chief Executive Ian] Read and Pfizer’s board ‘appear eager to do the same and dismantling the business will accomplish that goal,’” reports the Journal.
February 11, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Biopharmaceutical company Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH) reported Thursday a 28% increase in 2010 sales to $2.8 billion from $2.2 billion the year before, while profits rose 40% to $657 million. There was no mention of the impact of U.S. health care reform on the group’s business in the earnings announcement, but the company is confident of the year ahead, giving higher performance targets.
February 8, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Health insurance carrier Humana (NYSE: HUM) cautioned Monday that recent U.S. health care reform could have a “material adverse effect” on operations. The insurance provider said the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could hurt revenue, increase administrative costs and lower Medicare payment rates.
February 4, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Health insurance company Cigna (NYSE: CI) reported Thursday a 3% rise in profits to $1.35 billion in 2010 from $1.3 billion in 2009, but is cautious regarding business in 2011 as implementation of the Affordable Care Act progresses. The company lowered its 2011 target on income to a range between $1.19 billion to $1.29 billion after reporting $1.28 billion for 2010, citing impact from U.S. health care reform and expected increased medical services.
February 3, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Health care company Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) announced Thursday a 68% jump in sales to $46 billion in 2010 from $27 billion in 2009. However, it took a hugh setback in earnings, reporting $0.28 per share, falling 95% from last year’s $5.65 earnings per share. The company cites a slowdown in health care spending as a result of a poor economy, price cuts regulated by European governments and U.S. health care reform as all having negative impact on revenues. Merck reported a $147 million tax charge related to U.S. health care reform legislation.
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – U.K.-based health care company GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) reported Thursday that U.S. pharmaceutical sales fell 11% in 2010 to 7.6 billion British pounds ($12.3 billion), as a result of increased competition from generic products, discontinued advertising and U.S. health care reform. The company expects price cuts amongst its product range in both the U.S. and Europe to have a 325 million pound impact ($526 million) in 2011.
February 1, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Drug maker Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) sees a challenging future and lowered its revenue targets for 2011 in a range between $63 billion and $65.5 billion. The target had been set between $65.2 and $67.7 billion. While the company didn’t attach a figure to the negative impact of U.S. health care reform and price cuts in Europe, it did note an “overall decline” in different parts of its business. As a result of a sluggish outlook, also impacted by a slow economy, Pfizer announced a reduction in investment in Research & Development, an area medical science is largely dependent upon from the private industry.
January 27, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Swiss drug maker Novartis (NYSE: NVS) said Thursday that sales growth will be slow in 2011, as U.S. health care reform and price cuts will have a negative impact. Meanwhile the group reported a 14% rise in total sales worldwide to $50.6 billion in 2010, up from $44.3 billion in 2009. Pharmaceutical sales, alone, accounted for $30.6 billion in 2010, up from $28.5 billion in 2009.
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Go ahead and add Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) to the list of companies announcing how health care reform will negatively impact revenue. The pharmaceutical company said Thursday it expects at least a $250 million hit to revenue in 2011 due to discounts in Medicare Part D coverage, a provision imposed by the Affordable Care Act.
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Drug company Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) said Thursday that American health care reform will hurt revenue in the next year by around a half a billion dollars. Meanwhile, the group reported an increase in worldwide revenue for 2010. Eli Lilly expects the impact of the Affordable Care Act to lower 2011 revenue by $400 million to $500 million. The company expects little to slight growth in total revenue for next year.
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – U.K.-based pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) warned Thursday that the next few years will be “challenging for the industry” as it reported a slight increase in revenue and profit for 2010. Chief Executive David Brennan said in a conference call that U.S. health care reform will continue to hurt business and expects it will cost the company near $700 million, more than double that for 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal.
January 25, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported Tuesday that 2010 sales fell by 0.5% to $61.6 billion, compared to $61.9 billion a year ago. The company’s net earnings for the year totaled $13.3 billion, up from $12.2 billion in 2009.
January 18, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Sales at pharmaceutical company Forest Laboratories Inc., (NYSE: FRX) increased 6.7% to $1.06 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2011, up from $997 million in last year’s third quarter.
January 12, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – Last fall, ProPublica broke a story called Dollars for Docs which found that seven drug companies doled out $295 million in payments to doctors for promoting their drugs. U.S. drug sales in 2009 totaled $300 billion, and the sales of the seven companies in ProPublica’s report, totaled $109 billion.
January 7, 2011
[BLOG] By Kimberly Vlach – The Congressional Budget Office has delivered a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Oh.), estimating that repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would increase the federal deficit by $230 billion between 2012 and 2021.